Boozer's back, but Jazz tumble

By Tim Buckley, Deseret News

Published: Tuesday, Oct. 16 2007 12:37 a.m. MDT

Jazz players Andrei Kirilenko and Ronnie Brewer pressure Phoenix's Steve Nash Monday night.

Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press

Summary

Seeing how it's preseason and all, the numbers that really mattered for the Jazz on Monday night here weren't so much the 35-point deficit in the third quarter or even the 23-point final margin.

PHOENIX — Seeing how it's preseason and all, the numbers that really mattered for the Jazz on Monday night here weren't so much the 35-point deficit in the third quarter or even the 23-point final margin.

Rather, come start of the 2007-08 NBA regular season, it was the five rebounds pulled, 10 points produced and 13 minutes played by power forward Carlos Boozer that Utah should remember most from a 124-101 exhibition loss to the Phoenix Suns at sold-out USA Airways Center.

Boozer, the Jazz's leading scorer and rebounder last season, was making his first appearance of the preseason. He clearly was not in mid-season shape, but afterward deemed the outing to be better than decent.

"Other than us getting our butts whipped, it felt good to be out there," he said. "Good to be back out there with the fellas."

Based on his performance Monday, Boozer suggested he'll have no trouble being good to go all-out for the Oct. 30 opening of the regular season.

"Before that, absolutely," he said. "They way I work, and the way we work, I'll be fine. I'm not worried about that."

The 2007 NBA All-Star, 2004 Olympian and current Team USA member missed all of training camp in Boise earlier this month while tending to his ill son back home back in Miami.

But with 1-year-old Carmani finally discharged following a lengthy hospital stay related to his ongoing battle with sickle cell anemia, a potentially deadly blood disorder, Boozer was able to re-join the team on the road last Friday in Detroit.

He did not dress Friday night against the Pistons, and did not play Saturday night in Milwaukee either.

Originally, plans called for Boozer to sit out Monday night in Phoenix as well. Later, after he worked out with teammates Sunday in Phoenix, that was changed to he "most likely" would not play against the Suns.

Finally, though, both Boozer and the Jazz decided enough was enough.

By Monday day, word was that the 25-year-old may play very limited minutes in the now 2-2 Jazz's fourth game of the preseason.

As it turned out, he did much more that.